I've always wanted to get into jazz...but I don't know where to start. could someone out there give me a little tutorial on who's who in jazz?
Question is too broad. Have you already heard some jazz that you like? Could you describe what you like? I don't think there is any one entry-point or all-encompassing tutorial. Knowing nothing, I might recommend John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, Charles Mingus' Ah Um, or Dave Brubeck's Time Out just to get a feel for what's out there....
all the classic guys like miles davis and john coltrane are great. But i think modern jazz is cool cuz you can actually go see a show, and its just a generation for US lol. Check out "Skerik's Synopated Taint Septet" they have a myspace....just type in "skerik" in the music search and it should come up.....summer pudding is a good song for starters....if you cant dig that, then you dont have a pulse im sorry. Husky is a great album by the taint...and if you like that, i would also suggest anything by Charlie Hunter (amazing jazz guitarist...the group Charlie Hunter and Pound for Pound is his finest work imo)) and "Garage a Trois" which consists of some of the finest jazz musicians in the country.. (members from Galactic, Claypools band, and also Charlie Hunter) Enjoi
the two record which are really good for beginers are: Kind of Blue - Miles Davis Time Out - Dave Brubeck
check out the cat empire for some funky fun stuff you can get into or diana krall, great jazz vocalist and pianist
Going straight to john coltrane or any of those other classic jazz artists might throw your interests out the door unless your really open to it. (infact i still have trouble catching my ear to Miles, John, Dizzy, ect..) Id suggest listening to something more modern sounding and catchy like George Benson, Wes montgomery, Grover Washington Jr., Herbie Hancock, Diana Krall (as said above), I don't know there is sooooo much out there that people overlook.
i'd suggest going for something that's quite accessible such as Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, Charles Mingus' Mingus Ah Um, John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. Horace Silver's A Song for My Father is generally an easy listen. Stuff with Cannonball Adderley is usually quite accessible because his solos generally sound 'pretty'. It also depends on what type of music you currently listen to, if you listen to rock, why not try Mahavishnu Orchestra or stuff with John McLaughlin, to make the transition easier.
